The Hon. Ronnie Abrams, U.S. District judge for the Southern District of New York, will deliver the commencement address for the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law's 46th graduation ceremony at Lincoln Center in June. 

Abrams was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Southern District court. She was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York from 1998 to 2008, was Chief of the General Crimes Unit from 2005-2007 and was Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division from 2007 to 2008. She received the U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance as a Federal Prosecutor.  

Before working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Abrams joined the Davis Polk law firm as a litigation associate in 1994. In 2008, after her work in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Abrams returned to Davis Polk as Special Counsel for Pro Bono practice. While at Davis Polk, she was counsel to the New York State Justice Task Force, created by New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to examine the causes of wrongful convictions and to make recommendations for changes to safeguard against them. Abrams was an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School and currently serves on the Public Service Committee of the Federal Bar Council. In 2015, Abrams co-founded the Young Adult Opportunity Program, a judicially supervised pretrial program for non-violent young adults charged in the Southern District. This program provides participants with access to employment, counseling, treatment and other resources. 

Abrams earned a bachelor of arts degree from Cornell University in 1990. She was awarded a juris doctor from Yale Law School in 1993. After completing law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas P. Griesa of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law 46th Annual Commencement Exercises will take place on June 3, 2024, at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.